This program took place on December 3rd, 2024 at 6:30pm Eastern at the Center for Jewish History and was livestreamed nationally. Program partners included the NYU Glucksman Ireland House as well as the Kansas City Irish Center.
Hasia Diner, author of Opening Doors: The Unlikely Alliance Between the Irish and the Jews in America and moderator Terry Golway joined us for a discussion around the cooperation and partnerships that existed between 19th and early 20th century Irish Catholic and Jewish communities. Inspired to write a story of collaboration rather than solely on instances of antisemitism, Dr. Hasia Diner highlights moments when Irish Catholics and Jews relied on each other for advancements in government, business, education, athletics, and labor.
In the late 19th century Irish Catholics and Jews were unified by their attempts to break into and circumvent a dominant Protestant culture. A substantial number of Irish Catholics were already settled and established in the United States when significant Eastern European Jewish migration began to take place. The established Catholic institutions began to serve as an alternative resource for Jews who were blocked or prevented from participating in Protestant spaces. Tammany Hall politicians saw potential votes from this new cultural group and began to offer favors and pass legislation that would inspire loyalty. Irish and Jewish women unified around mutual goals in the labor movement. Jewish labor activists such as Rose Schneiderman and Pauline Newman were mentored and encouraged by female Irish union organizers such as Leonora O’Reilly and Mary Kenney O’Sullivan.
Topics covered in this program: Bishop Hughes, Tammany Hall, alliance around kosher meat, athletics, Irish nationalists, Zionism, Governor Al Smith, labor movement, American public education, Catholic private schools, Father Charles Coughlin, Jewish athletes at the Berlin Olympics, Marty Glickman.
